I love to bake but I’m well aware that my skills don’t necessarily match my level of enthusiasm.
My cakes don’t always turn our the way that I plan and even though I’ve made some good ones in the past, I’ve also had a few disasters! My last few Birthday cakes for the kids have been sucessful though so when Miss Frugal turned 12 a few weeks ago, she asked me to make a cake for her.
She had a look through my Instagram pictures for some inspiration and was torn between the last two Birthday cakes that we’ve made:
Then she had a look through the photos of some of the people who I follow and she spotted ‘THE’ cake.
It was one of those that had Kit Kat fingers around the side and Maltesers on top and as soon as she it, my previous efforts were no longer an option! Unfortunately, after a week where everyone but me had taken it in turns to be ill, I really had no energy to make the cake and I was so far behind on everything that I didn’t really have time either.
But I didn’t want to let her down so I popped to the shop at 9’o’clock the night before her Birthday to buy the ingredients when I walked past the ready baked cakes. A large chocolate fudge cake *fell* into my trolley, as did two boxes of chocolate fingers and a large pack of Maltesers.
When I got home, it took me about two minutes to push the chocolate fingers into the icing around the edges of the cake and a further 30 seconds to empty the packet of Maletesers on to the top of the cake. The next day, I was able to present her with this little beauty:
It looks homemade because of my wonky craftmanship with the chocolate fingers but looks like a good standard of homemade-ness so she was over the moon with it but didn’t question if I’d made it or not. I didn’t comment on this one way or the other (apart from hiding the cake box in the bin) so she thinks I made it from scratch. 😉
I know this isn’t the most frugal of cakes and I could have made it cheaper myself from scratch but sometimes, you have to balance the time that something will take you when you really don’t have the time with the extra cost. This time it was worth it to me, next time I might have more time so I’ll make it myself.
What about you, do you have any kitchen cheats?
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the cake looks delicious – happy daughter & happy mum – sounds like a winner to me! (I never bake birthday cakes because they ALWAYS go wrong for me!!)
It looks ace and remember I didn't bake my boys cakes till they were five or so. If you can make live easier then why not
Great bake! I love rainbow cakes and never made one myself I'm not sure if I have required skills!
Sylvia @ Happiness is homemade
Isaac really wants a rainbow cake – tempted to buy one rather than make it though
I think you did the right thing – if your week's gone pear-shaped, there's nothing wrong with buying. And it looks like a delicious cake too. I usually make the kids' birthday cakes but when heavily pregnant and completely exhausted, I would buy birthday cakes with gusto and felt all the better for it.
I actually really like the look of the cake, especially with all the different coloured tiers x
Love the look of the cake x
Awww what a very honest post , cake looks yummy.x
I have a confession to make! I used to be a professional cake decorator…. and when I bake for the kids I use Betty Crocker cake mixes! How naughty it that????
Oh I totally agree this is the way to go if you are stressed/pushed for time. I do always make my daughter's cakes because I love baking and decorating, but it does generally stress me and I always live in fear of them requesting a very detailed one! So taking part of the stress away is a good idea in my book 🙂
Oh well if you cheated a little on cake.as long as she was happy on the day (and you hid all evidence) that’s all that counts. I hope she had a great day 🙂
Oh Bless you! It's hard to let your kids down, especially when it's their birthday. I am really glad Miss Frugal was happy with the rather scrummy looking cake. Rachel X